


The Serpent's Bed

by ElCapitan18



Series: The Serpent's Bed [1]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-11
Updated: 2014-11-03
Packaged: 2018-02-20 18:18:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 22,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2438339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElCapitan18/pseuds/ElCapitan18
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Baffled by the hero worship surrounding Commander Jane Shepard, Kai Leng decides that he wants to find out for himself what all the fuss is about. The Normandy is docked at the Citadel between missions and he has followed the commander's trail to Flux. Will the Cerberus operative be charmed by Shepard's allure, or will his doubts be validated?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoy the read!

He knew everything there was to know about Commander Jane Shepard, his expertise seconded only to Miranda Lawson who had headed the Lazarus project. There was something about the commander that enraptured the galaxy as a whole. Even as the Council tried to deny the existence of everything she’d warned would be coming for them, Shepard was still one of the most influential people alive.

Personally, he didn’t see what all the fuss was about. The commander was just a street urchin from Earth who’d joined the Alliance to avoid jail time. She had led her whole team to their deaths on Akuze, and it was by pure luck that she defeated Sovereign on the Citadel. If the Illusive Man had just let Kai Leng handle the Collectors he could have dealt with them with twice the finesse at a quarter of the cost.

Even though he could understand the general fascination with her, what he couldn’t understand was how a single person could hold so much influence in the galaxy. Against his council, the Illusive Man had spent an exuberant amount of credits just to bring her back from the dead. Kai Leng didn’t get it. He didn’t understand how one woman could decide the fate of an entire galaxy, but he was determined to find out by any means necessary.

According to his contacts the Normandy and her crew were dry docked on the Citadel. They were between assignments, which meant that they had some time to spare. If Kai Leng could find Shepard then maybe he would be able to find out what exactly it was about her that demanded so much praise.

On the occasional visit he had made to the Lazarus Project, he and Shepard had never met in person but, be that as it may, he’d taken extra precautions to make sure that he wasn’t recognized. Staring himself in the bathroom mirror, Kai brushed back his freshly cut hair, the obsidian black strands shortened to just medium length. His civilian clothing was semi casual, business appropriate, and were made of soft tones that brought out the color of his skin. Even he had to admit that he cleaned up nicely.

The bathroom door parted with his approach, revealing an avian-like turian standing on the other side. Not bothering to wait for the alien to move aside and let him pass, Kai pushed past the turian and ignored his responding grumbled protest. According to his sources, Shepard had last been seen entering Flux, and he didn’t have time to dance around the bathroom exit with an alien.

Luckily he wasn’t too far from the nightclub that doubled as a casino. If the commander wasn’t in a bar hopping kind of mood, he would make it there in time to see her. Kai kept his attention forward as he strode through the Citadel’s streets, aware of everyone and everything around him. If anyone recognized him and retaliated with violence, he was confident in his abilities to stop them. He had left his sword behind, safely hidden under his hotel bed, knowing that it would collect unwanted attention, but it was only one of the many weapons in his arsenal. There were hundreds of other way he knew how to kill a man, and a majority of them only required his body as the weapon.

Cutting through the markets on the Upper Wards, Kai turned a corner and climbed the set of stairs that led to the nightclub’s entrance. House beats rumbled through the bulkheads, vibrating the ground beneath his feet and filling the atmosphere with a seductive kind of energy. He entered the club and stopped a few paces in. The flashing lights were bright, pulsating, dancing to the music without the restrictions of flesh or inhibitions of sentient life forms.

Flux had been a popular nightclub upon its opening, and had only increased in popularity in the last three years. The dance floor was littered with swaying bodies of all races. Up on the mezzanine people were laughing and cursing, their moods varying depending on their luck on the quasar machines. Kai shifted his gaze from the balcony to the bar and his chest immediately tightened.

Commander Shepard was still here after all, and she looked… he had no words. She should have been the first thing he noticed, and Kai was surprised that he hadn’t zeroed in on her immediately. Shepard was fire incarnate. Her red hair captured the club’s lights and reflected them like a beacon. Beautiful snow white skin was covered by a form fitting black dress, the fabric flattered her pale complexion in a way that neared mesmerizing.

Seated at the bar, her attention was on the magenta skinned asari leaning beside her, trying to make conversation. From the other side of the club, Kai could tell how disinterested Shepard looked by the unimpressed quirk of her eyebrows. Her vibrantly green eyes were watching the asari patiently, a semi-apologetic smirk on her darkly painted lips.

Curious as to how the alien loving, galaxy saving, renown Commander Shepard would handle rejecting her oblivious asari pursuer, Kai Leng moved to the far end of the bar and slid into one of the few available seats. He waved for the stout volus bartender to pour him a drink, and watched as the asari laid out her best moves for the commander. Stirring the contents of his mojito, Kai wished that he could hear exactly what was being said between the two women.

Shepard allowed the asari to prattle on for a minute or so before she lifted her hand to silence the other woman. Her features were polite, open and readable as she spoke. Kai was entranced by her lips, their size, shape, and how they moved. He imagined the voice that accompanied those full lips. Sure he had heard her speak on various news segments, and would know that smoky sound anywhere, but there was something vastly different about hearing her over a vid and listening to the thickness of her voice in person.

Whatever she had said, the asari’s back went rigid with dissatisfaction and, muttering something to the commander, she turned on her heel and left Shepard alone at the bar. The first human Spectre watched her leave, unperturbed by the other woman’s reaction. The corners of her mouth curled with an amused smirk before she shook her head and dismissed the interaction. Wrapping her long, delicate fingers around the glass of bright pink liquid, she took a sip of her drink before scanning the bar’s inhabitants.

Kai Leng’s heart leaped into his throat when her piercing green gaze landed on him, and it was like all of Flux faded into blackness. The thrum of throbbing electronic beats became white noise, and the flashing lights were no longer the attention grabbing beacons they had been mere seconds ago. Now there was only Shepard, seated all the way on the opposite end of the bar, watching him as he stared at her. He was caught and he knew it. Kai had to fight the urge to break her gaze and turn away like a blushing school girl. He wasn’t the kind of man that backed away from anything, be it a fight or a staring contest with Commander Shepard.

Forcing the corner of his mouth to twist into a sideways smile, Kai picked up his mojito and raised it in her direction. Shepard watched him for a moment, raising her eyebrow in surprise of his bold and unabashed gesture. After a few seconds had passed she also lifted her glass, returning his greeting with a predatory purse of her lips. She was gauging him, judging his weight, his muscle mass, how much money he had, what kind of work he did; with a thorough once over she was deciding on the kind of person he was at first glance. Kai knew, because he was doing the same with her.

For the first time in a very long time, he was feeling relatively nervous. There was something about Commander Shepard that made him feel like he had to exceed all of her expectations, like he had to be better than what she could possibly imagine he could ever be. It was ludicrous. The only person that he had to impress was the head of Cerberus, and Kai Leng was the Illusive Man’s best and most trusted operative. There was no reason for him to want to impress Shepard. If anything, it was she who had to work to impress him. Sure she was something nice to look at, but so far he didn’t really count himself as impressed; not really.

Deciding that he had learned all that he could at a distance, he picked up his glass and started for her side of the bar. He swallowed hard past the mass of nerves growing in his throat. As he approached he considered what he could possibly say to her. Kai Leng had been with plenty of women before, but he found so many of them so incredibly undeserving of his time and efforts that he never truly approached one with the intent of conversation. He hadn’t lurked around Flux just for the sake of fucking Commander Shepard. Curiosity of who she was as a person, of what she was made of, that was what had brought him to this drab nightclub. And he hoped that she wouldn’t disappoint him the way so many other women had before her.

Her whole body turned in her seat as she watched his casual approach, the expression on her features was of open curiosity and mild interest. Tapping a finger against his glass, Kai couldn’t help but admire her body in that tight, short dress. The muscles in her long pale legs were impressive, defined and strong, they looked like they could kick a skull in with little effort at all. Though covered up, there was no denying that the rest of her body was just as impressive. He could tell by the thickness of her arms that the muscles underneath were nothing to scoff at. Shepard was thin, but had womanly curves that were surprising, considering that she was comprised primarily of muscle.

Sliding into the seat beside her, Kai put his drink down on the bar and offered Commander Shepard the most charming smile he had in his arsenal. When she returned his smile with a challenging quirk of her eyebrows he noticed that her glass was empty. Holding the commander’s green gaze, he wondered, “What are you drinking?”

“Water,” she supplied with a devilish grin. When the bar tender meandered to their side of the bar, she gestured to her glass and wordlessly placed another drink order. The bartender nodded and turned around to prepare her beverage.

Kai watched as the volus supplied her with another bright pink drink, feeling as though his opening line was a complete disaster. He’d used it before, many times before, and it had always worked. Then again, every woman he had ever used it on he’d had next to no interest in actually speaking with. If he wanted to talk to the commander then he was going to have to step up his game.

Feeling a bit flustered and unprepared, Kai reached for the first question that came to him. “What’s your name?” he asked, and wondered if it was cheating since he already knew all there was to know about her. Kai reminded himself that there was no such thing as an unfair advantage; people either measured up or they fell short, and he wasn’t going to understate himself for anyone, not even Commander Shepard.

“Jane,” she answered, her voice thick and smooth like smoked honey. The smirk hadn’t left her features since his arrival, like she found something about him amusing, and Kai struggled not to feel self-conscious about that smile.

“Jane what?” he prodded, curious as to why she’d given him her first name at all. The commander’s closest friends and confidants called her Shepard, most everyone in the galaxy referred to her by her last name; Yet she’d introduced herself to a complete stranger with her first. Kai was fascinated.

Smirk growing into a smile, she provided, “Doe.” and took a sip from her drink.

Doe, not Shepard. She would rather introduce herself as anonymous than as the renown Alliance commander that she was. When she refused to be associated with her accomplishments and title, that was when Kai found himself really appreciating all that she’d done. He was seated beside Commander Jane Shepard, first human Spectre, hero of the Citadel, destroyer of the Collector base, the ‘last hope’ for all organic life. It should have been the source of great pride, but she’d curiously introduced herself as someone she wasn’t. And since Kai Leng was pretending not to know her, he supposed that he could play along with blatant denial as well.

“What about you,” she asked. “What’s your name?”

“Kai Leng,” he answered, not even slightly concerned that she might have heard of him and would recognize him, or who he worked for. Kai was a damn good Cerberus Operative, the best, and he hadn’t climbed his way to the top by slipping up and distributing his name across the galaxy. He was good at what he did, he wasn’t famous for it; not yet at least.

The smile on Shepard’s lips was scheming. She was eyeing him as though he was her newest toy and she was determined to have her fun. His heart beat picked up with a mixture of nervousness and excitement. It had been a very long time since a woman made him feel evenly matched, and that look made him think that maybe Shepard could finally give him a challenge.

“So,” her smoky voice reached out to him, caressing his ears with the fullness of her tone. “Kai Leng, you come here often?” Shepard’s smile quirked teasingly, as though she were making fun of him with her lame pickup line.

He straightened his shoulders, refusing to allow himself to feel even the slightest bit intimidated by her. It didn’t matter who she was, he was Kai Leng and that made him a force to be reckoned with. Returning her teasing smile with a confident one of his own, Kai replied, “No. I came here on business and thought I could use a break.”

“So you came to Flux,” commented Shepard, her head slightly tilted with curiosity. “You should have tried Chora’s Den if you were looking for a proper distraction.”

Kai shrugged indifferently. Chora’s dancers were comprised mostly of asari. When he gawked at a woman he preferred them to be of his own species. “I thought I might try my hand at quasar.”

“Yeah?” the commander rebuked with a chortle. After taking another sip of her drink, she asked, “And how’s that going for you?”

His lips stretched upward at the sound of her snickering. Her eyes brightened when she laughed like that, her whole face lightening up as her spirit shined through. Blinking himself back into the conversation, Kai supplied, “I’m not much of a gambling man. In my line of work, if I do my job right, my likelihood of success far outweighs the improbability of failure.”

The commander’s darkly painted lips twisted, the quirk of her brow was challenging. “That doesn’t sound like much fun.”

“You don’t think succeeding is fun?” he inquired, taken aback by her response.

Shrugging, she agreed, “Of course it’s fun.” only to argue the validity of his statement. “But success without challenge is nothing more than doing exactly what’s expected of you.” When Kai arched an eyebrow in surprise, Shepard continued with her statement. “In my line of work the probability of success are as minimal as it gets. If you’re not willing to risk life, limb, and everything you hold dear, then you’ve already failed. Success, in my opinion, is earned when the odds are stacked so highly against you that the whole galaxy expects your failure.”

For a moment all Kai could do was stare at her. She was right, of course. Her interpretation of success was something to strive for, the ideal definition for anyone who demanded more from themselves than the average person.

Suddenly he felt as though he wasn’t trying hard enough to be the very best at what he did. Kai was no longer challenging himself to the extent that he should have been. As he decided that he was only going to accept high risk assignments, he came to the realization that even in casual conversation Shepard demanded nothing but the best in people. Perhaps he was starting to see the commander’s appeal.

Drinking from his mojito, Kai looked up at the woman beside him and allowed his smile to turn flirtatious. If she was willing to hide her real identity, he wanted to find out how far she would go to keep up the charade. “What kind of high risk job do you have anyway?”

“Military,” she vaguely supplied with a dismissive shrug. Before he could pursue her answer, she returned his question. “What about you, Mr. ‘no risk, more reward’; what do you do?”

He allowed his grin to grow in response to her evasion of further questioning. Deciding not to hound the topic he already knew all about, he answered her question. “I work for a private philanthropic organization.”

“Sounds like a big deal,” she commented with a jibing laugh.

When Kai responded with a confident, “It is.” she observed, “No disrespect, but you don’t really seem like the humanitarian, bleeding heart, kind of guy.”

He smirked, “That’s because I’m not.”

Shepard’s green eyes brightened with intrigue. “Oh?” she sang, waiting for him to enlighten her. “And what kind of man are you, Kai?”

“The kind who gets the job done, no matter the cost.” he answered. To the impressed arch of her eyebrows, he drank the last of his mojito and asked, “Does that bother you, Jane?”

It was strange being on a first name basis with the commander. So few people had the privilege, and all he’d done to earn it was approach her at a bar. A part of him was flattered by the honor, another part of him was outraged that he considered it to be an honor at all. She was just a woman, nothing to be excited about; though the longer he spent in her company the less he believed that to be true.

Before she could answer his question their conversation was interrupted by the sound of someone calling for her attention. “Oh. My. God.” said a young human girl as she slowly approached them at the bar. Her face was bright with amazement, her eyes wide with disbelief.

“You’re Commander Shepard!” she squealed before rushing over and fawning over the red haired woman. “You are like the most bad ass woman in the entire galaxy. I was sixteen when that Reaper, Sovereign, attacked the Citadel. Seeing you in action,” she paused, shaking her head as though the words had escaped her. “I swore that the second that I turned eighteen I would enlist in the Alliance. Can I have your autograph? Can I take a picture with you? Is this weird? I feel like it’s weird.”

Shepard hid her grimace behind a hand before tucking her bangs behind an ear and offering the young woman a smile. “It’s not weird at all,” she replied in a friendly tone. “I’m flattered to receive such high praise.”

Asking the bartender for a pen, Shepard turned to Kai Leng and smiled apologetically at him before wondering, “Do you mind taking our picture?”

“Not at all,” he replied with a wolfish grin. Shepard was embarrassed to have been caught in a lie. Technically she hadn’t lied to him about her identity, but she hadn’t been straight with him either. And that now he knew who she was she would have some explaining to do.

Holding up his omni-tool, Kai counted to three before snapping the picture and sending the file to the young woman. Shepard accepted a permanent marker from the bar tender and, when they realized that the young woman didn’t have anything for Shepard to sign, she used it to sign the girl’s collar bone. After receiving the tightest of bear hugs, Shepard patiently accepted the girl’s praises and maintained her friendly smile until the girl finally left them alone.

She watched the girl leave the night club for a second before turing her attention back to him. Her face wrinkled with embarrassment as she handed the permanent marker back to the bar tender, before muttering to Kai, “There’s no way that you could pretend like you didn’t just see that, is there?”

“Not a chance,” Kai rebuked with a grin, admiring how brightly her cheeks were burning. It was surprisingly endearing to see her like that, considering the unrelenting legend she was known to be. Taking advantage of the opportunity to poke fun of her, he said, “So you’re the great Commander Shepard.” He shook his head with the admission, “I should have recognized you earlier.”

“I was glad you didn’t,” grumbled Shepard, dismally twirling the straw in her glass. “With everything that’s going on, it was nice to just be Jane for a few hours.”

Kai stared at her for a moment, taking in the sight of her as she gazed into her empty glass. Her shoulders were slumped and her posture was bent. Shepard was legitimately disappointed that her ruse had been ruined. She truly wanted to spend the evening as some Jane Doe whose main concern wasn’t saving the galaxy from Reapers, but enjoying a night out on the town. The realization of how badly she wanted anonymity made Kai want to humor her for just a bit longer.

“I take it back.” he stated, pulling her attention from the glass between her hands. When she looked back up at him, surprise in her green eyes, he explained. “Jane Doe, I believe that I was about to buy you another drink.”

At the sight of her darkly painted lips pulling up into a grateful grin, he asked, “Water?”

“Margarita,” she corrected, her voice thick with amusement and delight. “Strawberry margarita, Kai Leng; if that is your real name.”

He couldn’t help the chuckle that burst out of him then. Motioning for the bar tender to bring her another drink, Kai gave Shepard a sideways glance before shaking his head at her teasing question.

Entering Flux, he had no idea what he’d been expecting. Admittedly, a large part of him was prepared for her to be just one more great disappointment. He’d almost wanted her to be as dull and dim witted as he often imagined her being. But that wasn’t Jane at all. She was sharp, charming, kind, and patient. Shepard was strong, and her personality was a demanding one; requiring both attention and respect. She was the kind of woman that could tear a lesser man apart limb by limb, and he was curious to find out whether or not he would be able to manage her for even a night.

When the volus bar tender placed a fresh glass in front of Shepard, he decided that if there was ever a challenge worth his undivided attention, it was spending the night with Commander Shepard. Kai answered her question with a taunting grin. “Of the both of us, I’m not the one trying to keep my identity a secret.”

“And failing,” she added with a laugh, before taking a sip from her freshly shaken margarita. “Don’t forget that.”

His grin remained as he agreed. “How could I forget? You fail with such grace.”

Tucking her red hair behind her ear again, she murmured, “I prefer not to fail at all.”

“Then don’t.” Kai provided with a lopsided grin.

Her green eyes narrowed on him, and her expression was of playful incredulity. Quirking an unamused eyebrow, she replied, “Just like that, huh? It’s that easy?”

Shrugging, he tried to tone down his smile but there was something about joking with Shepard that made him feel more relaxed, like they understood one another on a level he didn’t quite understand yet. “It is for me.”

She stared at him for a moment before shaking her head. “You’re an arrogant son of a bitch, aren’t you?”

Kai shook his head in answer. “Arrogance implies an overestimation of my prowess as a fighter and an exaggeration of my overall skill set; which, I assure you, isn’t the case.”

“A fighter?” asked Shepard, blindsided by the admission. “Do you want to make this about weapons, Kai? Because if you’re talking guns, I hope you’re ready to get schooled by the master.”

“Depends,” he said with a nonchalant shrug. “Do you know anyone by that title?”

The grin on her lips was show stopping. Giving him a teasingly measured look, she inquired, “Tell me, does this usually work with the women you talk to?”

“Usually,” Kai answered, fighting to keep his features from revealing how self conscious the question had made him. “Is it not working now?”

She shrugged, though her eyes admitted that he was having some sort of affect on her at least. “I’m not saying that your confidence isn’t refreshing, but if you’re so confident in your abilities, then I’m sure you wouldn’t mind me putting them to the test.”

He features widened with fascination. “What do you have in mind?”

The smile the coiled her lips was foxy, vivacious, daring him to deny her now and prove his cowardice. “There’s a shooting range in the Spectre offices. Hows about you and I have a little shooting match?”

“Sounds like fun,” he agreed with a grin, which fell a bit as he admitted, “Though I should probably warn you, I’ve never been commended on my sportsmanship.”

Shepard snorted at that. “Don’t lose with grace, do you?”

“Don’t win with it either,” his grin grew at the sound of her amused snicker.

“Let’s make it interesting,” she wagered. “Loser has to purchase the weapon of the winner’s choosing.”

Scratching his chin, Kai pretended to take a moment and consider her proposition. “I have been needing a new gun.” He offered her his hand. “You have yourself a deal.”

“I hope you’re prepared to wait a bit longer for your gun, sweet heart.” she took his hand and gave it a firm shake. “Because, tonight, you are going to be buying me an early birthday present.”

His heart was still racing from when she’d called him sweet heart. After waving for the bar tender’s attention, he settled the bill and offered her a somewhat nervous, mostly challenging smirk. Trying to hear over the excited drumming of his heart beat, he countered with a lame, “We’ll see.”


	2. Chapter Two

Shepard had been called a lot of things throughout her long and colorful military career. Reckless, ferocious, overconfident, and foolhardy, she’d heard it all before. People often commented on her arrogance, but not even she compared to Kai Leng’s level of superiority. There was something about him that intrigued her, a magnetic pull that drew her to him. She didn’t know what laid beneath his haughty and proud exterior, but she was determined to find out.

They walked together through the Citadel’s crowded Upper Ward streets, their pace slow and casual as they made their way to the nearest rapid transit terminal. Biting her lip she gave Kai a side long glance, a strange feeling budding in her chest. Jane had never experienced the figurative “butterflies” in her stomach before; not with Kaidan and especially not with Jacob. She finally understood the meaning behind the phrase. Strange that she would feel it with someone she’d only just met.

The Spectre offices were reserved for Spectre use only. She knew that she could potentially catch shit by bringing Kai, a civilian, into the offices to try out the shooting range. The problem with that was that she didn’t have it in her to care. Shepard liked Kai’s confidence and she wanted to see if he could put his credits where his mouth was. Men were such petty creatures, and she wanted to find out if that ego was just for show or if he could back it up.

“So, Jane,” he started, giving her all the reason she needed to look at him without being accused of staring. When he met her gaze there was a twitch at the corner of his mouth, a challenge, a dare, he was taunting her to be or do something exactly the way he was expecting. “Does work bring you to the Citadel a lot?”

She pursed her lips as she stared at him, fighting back her underlying smirk. At his height, and looking the way that he did, most people had to find him intimidating. She’d dealt with too many men, too caught up in their big boys club to identify a strong woman when they saw one, to feel threatened by him. Shepard knew that the best way to get the respect from a man’s man was to beat him at his own game. But Kai’s game was impressive, and she welcomed the challenge.

“Not if I’m lucky,” she admitted with a smirk. When he glanced at her, his brow raised in question, she supplied, “On a good day, another day at the office includes going through several thermal clips and killing a bunch of bad guys out on the field.”

The chuckle that sounded from him was a low and seductive rumble. “Kicking ass and taking names?” he commented with an understanding nod. “That’s the ideal nine to five, if you ask me.”

“How about you?” she returned his question, genuinely intrigued by him and what he did. Shepard had to ignore the foreign flutter in her chest at the sound of his deep and alluring voice saying her name, her body still tingling from when he’d started his line of questioning.

People didn’t call her by her first name as an unvoiced rule. She was Shepard, Commander Shepard. Everything that the name symbolized, the respect it demanded, couldn’t be portrayed by her first name. And yet he made her feel just as important when he called her Jane, like she was the same woman, who had accomplished all of the same things, while still being a woman. Was that even possible, to feel feminine and like a badass at the same time?

They stepped up to the rapid transit terminal and Kai summoned a cab. Turning to her, the smirk twisting the corners of his mouth was mischievous when he admitted, “This is actually my first time back in a very long time.” like she was on the outside of an inside joke, party of one.

True to its name, the rapid transit terminal supplied a cab before she had the chance to reply. Shepard waited until he climbed into the sky-car behind her, and they were both settled in, before she observed, “How does a successful, private philanthropic organization thrive without a hub here on the Citadel?”

“Without the strain of politics,” he answered with another one of his smirks. The sky-car started moving and Kai repositioned himself in his seat. Turning his body toward her, he placed his arm on the back of the seat, tactfully wrapping an arm around her shoulders while maintaining the casualness of their car ride.

Shepard allowed a foxy grin to inch across her painted lips. She batted her eyes at him in that flirtatious way she’d seen Kelly do, and her smile grew at the sight of Kai’s dilating eyes. Biting her lip, she turned her body toward him and placed her hand on his chest. When Kai’s gaze was on her mouth, she huskily whispered, “Sounds like what you do isn’t entirely legal.”

He blinked and his gaze met hers. His smirk remained, but had turned challenging in wake of her statement. Leaning closer to her, the mouthwatering scent of Kai’s cologne filled her nose and he rebutted, “And how much of what you do is entirely legal, Jane?”

She bit her lip again, her heart beating hard in her chest, pumping excitement through her bloodstream like currents of electricity. Her laugh was throaty when she replied, “Not much.” her hand tingling against the warmth of his chest.

“I didn’t think so,” he purred, brushing a lock of her red hair from her face and tucking it behind her ear. Kai licked his lips, his eyes on her mouth as he commented, “Legalities are so constraining. People like you and I demand a certain kind of freedom that they can’t offer us.”

Her heart was hammering against her eardrums, the rapid thump-thump, thump-thump growing more and more deafening the closer he came to her. Shepard could feel his body heat, his warmth radiating off of him like the blue fire of biotics. Trying to concentrate on their ongoing conversation, she breathed in his cologne and forced herself to ignore her body’s reaction to his proximity.

“And what kind of people are you and I exactly?” she asked, her gaze flicking from his lips to his intense eyes.

Kai’s fingers trailed from behind her ear, down the line of her jaw, to her chin and he tilted her face up toward his. He answered her question, “The kind of people who get things done.” and inched his mouth toward hers.

Before their lips could make blessed contact the sky-car descended from the airway and landed on the platform. The cab door opened with a wretched hiss, and Shepard felt her hackles rise at the obscenity of their interrupted moment. She blinked and Kai was no longer about to taste her, he was back a respectable distance, her chin free from his hold.

Clearing his throat, Kai paid the cab fare and exited the sky-car. When Shepard scooted her way out of the seat, she accepted his offered hand and allowed him to help her out of the vehicle. She straightened out her dress and sucked in a deep, cleansing breath. The cold Citadel air helped to cool her yearny body. Though she could pretend otherwise, Shepard knew that she couldn’t deny the intensity of her attraction to Kai. There was just something about him.

They stood before the embassies and Kai gestured for her to lead the way. Shepard strutted through the doors, fully aware to her companion's heavy gaze on her backside. A devilish grin spread over her mouth. She might not have had Tali's curvaceous figure, but Shepard's ass was still one of her prized features.

Even at this hour of the night the embassies were still functioning. Diplomats, bureaucrats, and late working liaisons were lingering about to finish an unending night at the office. She and Kai walked through the embassies without interruption and quickly cut through to the Spectre offices.

Once they walked past the secure door and stood in the middle of the empty room, Kai gave the office a clinical once over. The expression on his handsome features was unimpressed. When he met her gaze again it was with the admission, “I always imagined these offices to be more…” he paused in search of the right word. After a second he finished, “intimidating.”

She smirked at his observation. Leaning on the nearby railing, Shepard crossed her arms in front of her chest and admired his strong features. Appreciating his tall and athletic build, she commented, “I have a feeling that it takes a lot more than an office to intimidate you.”

Kai stepped up to her then, cutting the distance between them until his scent was in her nose again. The smirk he wore when enjoying a private joke returned to his twisted lips, and grew at the sight of Shepard’s body bowing toward him unbidden. His voice was a deep and sensual purr when he admitted, “I’ve seen an intimidating office or two in my day.”

“Yeah?” she whispered, breathless by his proximity. Biting down on her lower lip, Shepard’s gaze flicked from his mouth to his shadowed gaze and back again. She swallowed hard in attempt to rein herself in and control her excited breathing. The foxy smirk that curled her lips was forced, her husky tone dabbed with seduction as she teased the tall man looming over her.

“Mr. ‘I get things done’ gets intimidated by an office?” She shook her head tauntingly, tsking him like she would a misbehaving animal. “And here I had such high expectations for you.”

“A man’s office is a representation of the man,” he replied, unperturbed by her teasing. His breath caressed her cheeks. “If a man’s office is intimidating, that can only mean one thing about the man--”

“He’s overcompensating,” she supplied with a devilish grin.

He chuckled, caught off guard by her backhanded comment. Kai held her by the chin and used his thumb to pry her bottom lip from between her teeth. His body heat was stifling, suffocating, absorbing all the moisture from her mouth until her thirst for him grew nearly unbearable.

“I wouldn’t know anything about that.”

Hmm, she hummed jokingly. “I’m sure you wouldn’t.” Shepard grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled her lips up to his. With their mouths only a hair's breadth apart, she whispered, “You talk a big game.” before forcefully shoving him away from her. Acknowledging the surprise on his face with a wolfish grin, she strutted past him towards the firing range.

Without looking over her shoulder back at him, she said, “Let’s see if you can back it up.”

She had to shake off the excited tingling coursing through her body. There was no arguing the sexual chemistry between them. Denying herself a taste of him was torture, a cruel game she never inflicted upon herself voluntarily. But this teasing back and forth, the sexy repartee, was fun. As much as she wanted it to end so that she could ravish him completely, she had to remind herself that ‘all good things to those who wait.’

Once in the firing range, Shepard led Kai to the selection of weapons and leaned sensually against the countertop. Shooting a seductive simper in Kai’s direction, she said, “Since I’m the one who challenged you, you get to pick what weapon we use.”

“I never took you for a duelist” he commented, moving his admiring gaze from her lithe body to the weapon case she was leaning against. Browsing through the display case, he considered his options before making a satisfied sound and pulling a sniper rifle from the armory.

Damnit! She bit back the stream of curses that threatened to spill past her painted lips. With a displeased growl she wondered, “How did you know?” To Kai’s inquisitive expression she elaborated, “The sniper rifle isn’t one of my strongest weapon choices.” Far from it actually. Handling a sniper rifle required a certain kind of finesse that she simply didn’t have.

Another one of his private smirks twisted his lips and Shepard scowled at the sight of it, even if her heart did flutter a little. “Lucky guess, I suppose,” he answered, his smirk easing into a showstopping grin.

She made a doubtful noise as she removed a matching sniper rifle from the weapons case. Walking over to where he was standing at the firing range, she took up post beside him and readied her weapon. Giving Kai a sidelong glance, she muttered, “Out of practice or no, I’m not going down without a fight.”

Kai grinned in amusement, squinting as he checked the scope. “I’d expect nothing less from you, Jane.”

Her cheeks flushed at the intimate way he said her name. Fighting the blush from her features, she didn’t risk opening her mouth and sounding like a flustered idiot. When she was as ready as she was going to be, she glanced at him and caught his grin.

“Are you done stalling?” He asked, a provoking note to his tone.

Shepard narrowed her gaze, offended, and replied, “I was just thinking about what gun you’re going to get for me.”

“Oh?” Kai laughed at her arrogant statement. “And what gun is that? I might need to move some credits around in my bank account.”

“An N7 Hurricane.” she answered with a sideways smirk.

He arched an approving eyebrow and nodded in appreciation of her tastes. “That’s a quality weapon.”

“It is,” Shepard agreed. “A quality weapon for a quality woman.”

The smile that coiled his mouth was daring when he commented, “It’s a shame that you’re going to have to buy it for yourself. In addition to the weapon you’re buying for me, of course.”

She couldn’t fight the grin from her face as she stated, “You are so sure of yourself.” with a shake of her head.

Shrugging, Kai rebutted, “With good reason.”

More than ready to put his skills to the test, Shepard started, “The rules of the game are: most precise shots on most targets wins.”

“Sounds simple enough,” he replied, getting a good grip on the long rifle in his hands.

She also adjusted her grip on the sniper rifle and said, “May the best man win.”

When Kai rebutted with a cocky, “I intend to,” she rolled her eyes and pressed the button that would summon the targets. Sheets of white appeared at the far end of the long room, descending from the ceiling and emerging at random. Shepard remembered to breathe as she kept pace with the targets, trying to anticipate when the next one would appear.

The long range scope was disorienting as it always was, and it was difficult for her to transition from distant targets to ones that were closer to her position. Even if she somehow lost this challenge, she could still boast the fact that she hadn’t missed a single target. Sniper rifles were her least favorite weapon. There was a reason that she  always trusted Garrus to have her six.

A buzzer sounded and their time was up. The targets pulled forward to be inspected by both contestants and, to her dismay, Shepard would have to find a way to pry her foot out of her mouth. A mixture of amusement and annoyance burned inside of her at the sound of Kai’s confident baritone voice.

“Huh,” he said, the grin as loud in his voice as it was wide on his face. “It looks like I won.”

She set down the sniper rifle and put a hand on her hip. Boring a threatening look into her male counterpart, Shepard muttered, “It sure does look that way, doesn’t it?”

Kai sucked in a deep refreshing breath through his nose, the smile still firmly rooted on his lips as he spoke. “So this is what it feels like to be a winner.” He held her gaze and his grin grew taunting. “What am I saying? I am a winner, beating you just feels a helluva lot better than usual.”

Shepard wrangled her bemused smile down to a scolding smirk before observing, “You really are a sore winner, aren’t you?”

Shrugging indifferently, he replied, “It’s one of my very few flaws.”

“You’re an arrogant son of a bitch.” She shook her head and turned on her heel. Leaving the firing range, she led Kai to the weapon kiosk and begrudgingly gestured for him to pick his prize. “Go on, get your toy. Try not to shoot your foot off with it.”

He smirked, murmuring, “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” as he browsed the selection.

Shepard stood to the side, her arms crossed in distaste. Returning his overconfident grin with a playfully pointed look, she rebuked, “Maybe then I’ll challenge you to a race.”

The burst of laughter that bubbled out of him was boisterous and immediately pulled an accompanying giggle from inside of her. Giving her a sexy sidelong glance, he said, “Has anyone ever told you how cute you are when you pout?”

Cheeks flushing at his compliment, she tucked her hair behind an ear to hide her girly blush. Clearing her throat in attempt to banish her school girl reaction to his comment, Shepard admitted, “Cute isn’t typically an adjective people associate with me.”

Kai gave her a slow and thorough once over, the shadow in his eyes darkening with something she wasn’t scared to call lust. When his dangerous gaze made it up her curves and found her eyes, a predatory grin expanded over his mouth. “It’s not the adjective I’d use to describe you either.”

“Is that so?” She felt her heart leap excitedly into her throat. Her previous heat of embarrassment turned into the heat of arousal, and Shepard was suddenly, and violently, reminded of the sexy creature that was Kai Leng.

With his hand still on the console, Kai leaned toward her and wrapped his free arm around her waist. Pulling her into his chest, he stared down at her dangerously and growled, “Cute is what I’d call a house cat. And you, my dear Jane, are a tigress.”

She squirmed in his arms, unable to control her body’s intense reaction to him. Wet heat was pooling in her southern regions and Shepard ground her teeth to keep from moaning at his touch. Fisting the front of his shirt, when she spoke her voice sounded embarrassingly needy, her wanton exuding from her in waves.

She pushed her chest against his and breathlessly whispered, “Are we done here?”

The smirk that twisted his lips was seductive. Combing his fingers through her short red hair, his hand burned at the nape of her neck and he lowered his mouth down to hers. His breath gently caressed her face, warming her blood up well past the boiling point.

“We’re just getting started.”


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The moment we've all been waiting for!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Explicit sexual content. Reader discretion advised.

She was a wildfire. Every inch of her searing hot, scalding, burning him to the touch. Commander Jane Shepard was a devastating force. She was consuming him whole, as though he were just a single blade of dry grass, happily waiting to be incinerated on her destructive path. Her’s was the spirit of a dragon, and it was all that Kai could do to keep up with this feral and mighty creature.

Her taste filled his mouth, a sharp sting reverberating from under his tongue as his mouth painfully watered with her slightly salted flavor. The smell of her perfume was intoxicating, maddening, putting him in a frenzy and he struggled pace himself. Jane was a delicacy to be relished and enjoyed without hurry or mindless abandon. And still it took every drop of self-control to keep from ripping off her tight black dress and claiming her then and there.

Shepard was leaned against the weapon kiosk, practically seated on the sturdy screen as she held him prisoner between her legs. Her fingernails scraped down his neck and back as Kai buried his face in the crook of her neck, biting and licking her fiery skin. Her smoky voice moaned in his ear, sending chills down his spine and making his hairs stand on end.

“Fuck,” she groaned, struggling to keep still under his mouth. Shepard’s breathing was hitched, fast, short breaths bursting in and out of her as she frantically pawed at his back.

Running his hand down the scorching plane of her thigh, Kai wrapped her leg around his waist, her dress riding up as he pushed himself into the fire of her body heat. A beastly, primitive force was warring inside of him, bellowing out in savage outrage that he wasn’t claiming this powerful female as his own. Kai Leng was fighting against himself, his inner Mr. Hyde demanding to come out and have a taste of Jane.

When he reluctantly ripped his mouth from her neck, Shepard buried her fingers in his hair and immediately pulled his lips to hers. He could taste her desire, and was encouraged by the fact that she wanted him just as badly as he wanted her. Kai’s fingers threaded through the silky hair at the nape of her neck, pinning her against his mouth. His other hand was splayed over the small of her back, forcefully pulling her pelvis toward his aching groin.

There was nothing Kai wanted more than to know this woman completely. He needed to know every inch of her, every curve, every dip, every part of her that she was willing to share with him. She was a drug. Her heat, her smell, her taste, everything about her was addicting, consuming, overpowering and Kai was feeling himself becoming completely enthralled by her. He was becoming dependant on her feverish heat, as though the fire inside of her was the sole force that gave him life.

This desire, this ache, it was maddening. Kai was being driven insane by having her in his arms and not being one with her. If Jane had been any other woman he would have already taken her every which way. He didn’t know where this uncharacteristic, and unwelcome, sense of propriety had come from. It didn’t matter how badly Kai wanted to dip into Jane’s depths, he didn’t have it in him to fuck her like she was just another woman. Shepard demanded respect in all aspects, and intimacy with her would be done right; no matter how his groin felt about it.

Refusing to pull her mouth from his, Shepard mumbled over his lips between desperate and needy kisses. “Do you… want to… get out of here…”

God yes. He nodded and managed to pull a bit away from her, his body screaming at the distance he’d forced between them. “I have a hotel room on the Presidium Commons.”

She placed a hand squarely on his chest and pushed him back another step so that she could slip off of the kiosk she’d been propped up against. The fire in Jane’s green eyes was enrapturing, her expression tantalizing as she bit into her lip and claimed possession of him with her gaze. Grabbing his hand as she strutted past him, she towed him towards the Spectre office’s exit.

They stepped out onto the embassies and all Kai could bring himself to focus on was the bewitching sway of her hips. How did anyone aboard the Normandy get any work done? He couldn’t imagine serving under her. They’d never leave her cabin, ever.

The cold Citadel air helped to cool the heat in his bloodstream, if just a bit. Jane led him all the way to the rapid transit terminal and, once the cab had been hailed, reclaimed his lips with a dominating ferocity.  Their tongues battled for supremacy as they kissed. Kai Leng pulled her against him, melding her curves to his body as he claimed her lips, her mouth, her breath as his own.

Kai found himself being incomprehensibly dumbstruck by her power. He finally understood. The night with her wasn’t even at its end, and he was beginning to really understand the galaxy’s fascination with the commander.  She was a force of nature, and for the first time in all of Kai Leng’s life, he felt as though he’d met his match, his equal, a woman that could not only keep up with him but surpass him and challenge him to be greater.

He sucked her bottom lip into his mouth and tenderly bit down on the swollen flesh. A needy groan escaped her and he hungrily swallowed the muffled sound. Their cab arrived not a moment too soon. The door opened, compelling them to enter it's dimly lit depths. Without removing her lips from his, Jane backed up into the taxi. Grabbing a tight hold of the front of his shirt he tugged him in behind her.

The sky-car wasn't even moving before Jane crawled onto his lap. Oh, how easy it would be to just slip into her now. All he had to do was unzip himself and preemptively claim his prize. Kai restrained himself, tempting his resolve by keeping his touch on the outside of her dress, he filled his hands with the round of her backside, firmly gripping her ass as he fought against her dancing tongue.

Jane’s fingers were in his hair as she sucked the breath right from his lungs, tugging and pulling at the black strands like she was fascinated by its length and texture. As though he wasn’t ignited by her already, Shepard started to gyrate against him and Kai felt the ongoing inferno inside of him roar in outrage.

A moan ripped through him, beastly, dangerous, warning her that if she kept it up he would dismiss what little self-control he had left and fill a need he didn’t even know he had until meeting her. Jane leaned back a bit, grinning in self-satisfaction at the sound of the ferocity of his desire. Annoyed, and equally aroused, that she would take pleasure in his desperation, Kai grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled her head back, exposing her neck to him.

“Do you have any idea how badly I want you right now?” he growled, forcefully guiding her neck towards his mouth. Before tasting the soft arch of her neck, he rumbled, “Do you have any idea what you’re doing to me?”

A gasp tore through her when he bit into her neck, only to lick the assaulted area and bite it again. Her nails dug into his shoulders, her hips rolling against him as she sought out what pleasure she could. “Oh my God,” she cried in nonsensical delight, moving uncontrollably on his lap. “That feels so fucking good.”

Kai trailed his tongue up the shape of her neck all the way to her ear. The way Jane reacted to him tasting the shell of her ear was conflicted, as though the pleasure was almost too intense for her, while also being perfect enough for her to stagger through it. Her moans of unabashed wanton filled the claustrophobic space of the sky-car’s interior, provoking the crazed creature inside of him. He didn’t know how much longer he could wait to have her. If they didn’t reach the hotel soon, Kai would explode.

The sky-car descended, landing softly on the platform before the door popped open with a sigh. A cool breeze breathed into the small space, causing gooseflesh to emerge along Jane’s pale white surface. He smirked at the sight of her puckered flesh, and gently rubbed her arms. Their gazes met and locked for a moment, a thousand words passing between them, alien emotions swirling in her green irises reflecting feelings inside of him that he didn’t know how to address.

She pressed her lips against his again, this kiss somehow different than the others. Beyond the fact that it wasn’t one of the deep, soul-devouring kisses they’d been exchanging all night, somehow this kiss had more meaning, a depth that he wouldn’t acknowledge till much, much later. Jane moved off of his lap and allowed Kai to pay the fare before exiting the sky-car and helping her back onto her feet. She looked up at the hotel before meeting his gaze again, a wolfish smile on her swollen lips.

“I see you feel the same way about hotels as you do about offices,” she joked in that smoky, sexy voice of hers. Quirking an eyebrow, Jane inquired, “Are you trying to intimidate me, Mr. Leng?”

He returned her foxy smirk and, grabbing a possessive hold of her hand, he led her past the hotel’s entrance. “When it comes to where I rest my head,” he replied, “I spare no expense.”

Excitement grew rampant inside of him as they cut through the impressive hotel lobby towards the elevators in the back. He pressed the button to summon the lift and looked down at the fine specimen standing beside him. When she glanced up to catch his gaze, Jane was pinned in place by what she found in his features. Kai wanted her, he needed her like a dehydrated man needed water. He was done denying himself. He was so close to nirvana he could almost taste it.

The elevator doors parted with a ding and they entered the metal box hand in hand. He pressed the number for his floor, immediately returning his attention to Jane. Waiting impatiently for the doors to finally shut, the moment that they did she jumped into his arms, and Kai pinned Jane against the wall as he reclaimed her mouth, groaning in delight at the familiarity of her taste.

 

* * *

 

 _Fuck_ , she thought for the millionth time that night. Shepard was beyond language. He had successfully stolen every last drop of inhibition from her. Now, the only way she knew how to communicate was through groans, moans, and sighs of unadulterated delight. This feeling… she’d never experienced anything like this in her entire life.

Kai Leng was the embodiment of power. He was the definition of male dynamism, and Jane had never met a single person like him. She was drawn to him by a force that she couldn’t pretend to understand, pulled to him like an unsuspecting plaything to a tornado. All she could do was hold on and hope that, when morning came, she’d at least remember her name.

The elevator’s cold metal wall chilled her back, but she couldn’t bring herself to pay the hard surface any mind. Her attention was on Kai, his taste, his scent, the way he felt against her, nothing else mattered. He was the sun and she would fly toward his warmth until her wings burst into flames.

She could feel how dangerous he was, could taste it on her tongue. It was within his power to destroy her, to dismantle her piece by piece until she was little more than his toy to play with to his heart’s content. And still that only served to spur on her desire for him, her need for him. He was the answer to a question that she’d never known to ask, a question too soul deep to be asked in words.

A ding sounded and it took a second for either of them to realize that they’d made it to his floor. He took a reluctant step back, releasing her lips from his, allowing her to fall back onto her feet and hold herself up on shaky legs. Straightening out her tight dress, Shepard looked up at Kai and immediately had her breath stolen from her lungs.

That look was dangerous, it was predatory. Kai was plotting, she could tell by his enrapturing gaze that he had dark and wicked plans for her. The second that they were alone, without the prying eyes of onlookers or security cameras, she was his and his alone. Jane swallowed hard, excitement and anticipation shooting like adrenaline through her bloodstream.

He led her to down the hall to his room and, stopping in front of the door, kept his eyes on her as he unlocked the door. A hiss sounded from the entryway as it slid open, revealing a finely furnished room inside. Her nervousness grew, unreasonably so. It wasn’t that Shepard didn’t know what awaited her past that threshold, because she did and was excited to experience Kai in the comfort of his domain. What gave her pause was this feeling of change. Something was going to be different by the end of the night, and Jane didn’t know what.

When Kai gestured for her to enter the room she hesitated for only a second longer before deciding that whatever change awaited her was worth the cost. If she only ever got a single night with him, she would accept whatever consequences followed suit. Stepping into the hotel room’s cold air, she walked a few paces in before stopping and turning to face the man who laid claim to this domicile.

Door sliding shut behind him, the lack of hallway light left his room painted with a slightly menacing shadow. His gaze didn’t break from hers as he strode into his room toward the dark leather armchair in the corner. Shrugging out of his vest, Kai meticulously folded it over his arm before setting it down on the back of the chair.

The deep, dominating sound of his voice sent chills down her spine when he finally spoke. “Take off your boots.” He instructed, waiting patiently for her to do as she was told before he also kicked off his shoes.

Shepard bit down on her lip, excitement glittering through her like sparklers. Never before had anyone talked to her like that. There was always someone higher ranking than her, addressing her as their subordinate, but this was different. This wasn’t military hierarchy, Kai wasn’t her superior, and still he’d addressed her as though she were his belonging. He was looking at her like she was his possession, the one he valued above all else, and he wanted her boots off.

Bending over just so, she gave him a generous view of her backside as she unzipped her boots and freed her feet from the tight black leather. The carpet was soft between her toes, a welcome change from her heels as she waited for further instructions. Her breath hitched when Kai stalked toward her, his movements slow while he gave her an appreciative once over.

“Don’t move,” his husky, tenor voice whispered against her temple. Heat rushed south by the bucketful, his proximity enraged the inferno of desire already burning wildly inside of her.

Kai’s touch was featherlight as he traced over her surface. The caress of his skin against her was curious, explorative. The calloused pads of his long, masculine digits trailed down the length of her arm to her wrist, leaving goosebumps in his wake. Grabbing a gentle hold of her wrist, Kai lifted her knuckles to his mouth and held her gaze as he pressed a kiss to her hand.

She lifted her free hand, wanting to feel the stubble lining his jaw, but that was exactly the wrong thing to do. The second she moved, Kai moved faster, her short hair in his fist, head pulled back, neck exposed to him. “Don’t.” he growled ferally. “Move.”

A needy moan whined out of her. Though aggressive, nothing about the way he was handling her was painful. Kai was asserting his dominance over this encounter, and she was an eager participant, happy to find out exactly how far he wanted to go.

Aside from biting sharply into her lip, Jane didn’t move. Satisfied that she wouldn’t disobey him a second time, Kai released her hair and allowed her to relax again. He walked around her, not stopping until he was standing directly behind her. She could feel her hairs standing on end, reaching desperately for Kai’s touch as his warm breath caressed over her shoulder.

He brushed aside her red hair, kissing the curve of her neck before licking all the way up to her ear lobe. The groan that sounded from her was loud, desperate, an admission to her fleeting self-control. As he nibbled on her ear, Kai fiddled with the zipper holding her dress together and casually pulled it down. His movements were slow, unhurried, testing both her willpower and patience. She wanted him, she wanted him now, but he was taking his sweet ass time.

Once she was unzipped, he slid his warm hands under the loosened fabric and slipped the dress from her shoulders. The black dress fell unceremoniously to the carpet, pooling around her bare feet, leaving her standing before him in nothing but her undergarments. She struggled against the urge to rub her arms against the cool air circulating in the room, knowing that, should she move again, she would get reprimanded by the powerful man watching her closely.

Circling around her again, Kai’s gaze was heavy as he admired her body and Shepard straightened her spine, proud of her hard earned physique. This was hardly her first sexual encounter, far from it actually, and still she felt a flutter of virgin-like jitters about what would happen next.

Kai was so vastly different from all of her previous sexual partners. He was forceful, assertive, he wanted her and wasn’t shy to make it known. There wasn’t this strained, socially enforced etiquette about their relationship. He hadn’t wasted time courting or wooing her. Kai knew what he wanted, and how he wanted it,  and all she had to do was be willing to go along for the ride. Shepard was more than willing.

He followed the line of her curves, pausing at her generous bust before meeting and holding her gaze again. The shine in his eyes was wild, territorial, this room was his and she was standing in it, making her his as well, and Shepard couldn’t bring herself to mind at all. When he spoke again the sound of his deep and rumbling voice was like a jolt straight to her core.

“Undress me,” he instructed, a hint of a smirk twitching at the corner of his mouth.

Jane swallowed, feeling a wave of delirium crash over her. Taking a deep breath, she reached up to him and carefully traced the soft fabric of his tanktop. She could feel his body heat through the material of his top, tempting her to hurry and get the man naked so that they could finally get down to the nitty-gritty.

Her hands glided down the front of his shirt all the way to the hem. Grabbing onto the bottom of his tanktop, Shepard pulled the cloth up, exposing his glorious torso the her until it was completely removed from his person. Her breath was stolen from her as she stared at him. Kai Leng was pure muscle mass without even a fraction of a percentage of bodyfat. He was rippling pectorals, ropes of unbelievably defined abdominal muscles, and this mouthwatering V that guided her wide eyes to the bulge of his arousal.

He sucked in a sharp breath when she touched him with her cold fingers. Shepard was spellbound by the sight of him, entranced as she traced every curve and dip with religious reverence. No wonder Kai was the arrogant creature that he was, this level of perfection demanded a certain kind of self-worship. Kai’s body was a temple, and it was time for communion.

Fingers trailing all the way down to his waistband, she glanced up and met his lust darkened gaze. She didn’t look away from him as she unbuckled his belt and undid his pants, allowing them to slide down a bit from the lack of support. Jane broke his gaze to glance down and her breath got caught in her throat. A neediness constricted her airway, it was like pouring gasoline onto a raging fire. The sight of him filling out his briefs so delectably was explosive.

Falling to her knees, Jane pulled down Kai’s pants, underwear and all, and bit her lip as she looked back up at him. Kai had not been joking when he claimed to not be overcompensating. There was a predatory smile on his lips, acknowledging her surprise of his endowment with uninsulted amusement. He combed his fingers through her bangs, a wordless invitation to go ahead and have a taste. And Shepard had to admit that she was salivating with curiosity as to how he would fit in her mouth.

Aware that her fingers were not yet warm enough to stroke him, she held onto his muscular thighs as she lowered her mouth onto him. Kai hissed away from the pleasure of her tongue slipping down his length, his fingers in her hair as he encouraged her to continue. He tasted like a man, his scent filling her nose as she bobbed her head on his member. Shepard could feel every inch of him as she guided him to and away from the back of her throat, swallowing him whole just to hear the almost pained sound of his moan.

 

* * *

 

She was going to be his undoing. Jane was going to single-handedly ruin him. The feeling of her mouth surrounding him, it was… eye opening, it was disorienting. Kai was having an incredibly difficult time stringing a thought together while she plunged his manhood into the volcanic depths of her mouth. If she kept it up he would fall apart at the seams right then and there, over before it ever truly began.

Not wanting to be the first one to reach euphoria, Kai held her head between his hands and stopped Jane from taking him back into her mouth. When she looked up at him, confusion in her sexy, smoldering green eyes, he curtly instructed her to, “Get on the bed. Now.”

Jane took her bottom lip between her teeth before standing to do as she was told. She drove him crazy when she looked at him like that, like she was expecting him to break at any moment and start pleading for the pleasure of fucking with her until she could no longer walk. It was taking all of his willpower to maintain his dominant persona, slowly pacing their progress at the rate that he was.

Telling Jane what to do, commanding over her as though she were his most beloved belonging, it was the only way that he knew to keep her from destroying him completely. This temporary control of her could only ever be implemented sexually, and it was the single thing protecting him from her.

Nervous anticipation gathered inside of him. Kai felt as though he were about to face the first meaningful crucible of his life. Once the Citadel’s faux dawn gave light to another day, he would wake a new man and it was because of Commander Shepard.

Never in all of his life had a bed looked equal parts inviting and terrifying as when Jane was laying on top of it, perched up on her elbows as she waited for his next move. Feeling as though his female counterpart was overdressed, he climbed onto the bed after her and met her lips with his. As they kissed, tongues swaying, twirling, and dancing against each other, he unhooked her bra and brushed the straps from her shoulders.

There was a foxy grin on Shepard’s lips as she removed the bra and laid topless beneath him. For a second, he forgot how to breathe. Jane's body was a work of art. Her breasts were full, perky, her pink nipples pearled in greeting, begging for his attention. She had the kind of body that was earned over years of physical training, her muscles pronounced, defined, strong yet unarguably feminine. Ancient sculptors from centuries past would have killed for the privilege of immortalizing her gorgeous figure, though Kai doubted that anyone could ever truly capture her beauty.

He sought out her lips again, needing to taste her on his tongue while his hand wandered in exploration of her incredible body. Roaming from the arch of her neck to the swell of her breasts, he massaged and played with each one, kneading her soft skin before taking her hardened nipples between his fingers and pinching them softly. The gasp that cut past her clenched teeth was encouraging, letting him know that he'd done exactly the right thing.

His attention remained on her breasts for a short while as he enjoyed her body writhing underneath his. When she was revved up enough, he set out to scope the planes of her body again. A giggle sounded from her when he tickled over the sensitive skin of her lower abdominals, just above the waistband of her sexy, lacy panties.

Heart fluttering at the delightful sound of her laughter, he pressed a tender kiss to her shoulder as his fingers slid under the hem of her underwear and felt the wet heat of her arousal. A grin spread over his mouth with the feeling of her slickness, she was just as wet as he was hard, and it was comforting to know that she needed him as desperately as he needed her.

Her back bowed when he glided over her petals and found the swollen nub hidden at her seam. Jane had a firm grip on his shoulder, her voice was a mindless whisper when she ground out his name. “Oh, Kai,” she groaned. “That feels so good.”

“Do you like this, Jane?” he asked rubbing her sex with a reverent gentleness reserved for the religious. When she whined out a needy yes, he asked again, “Do you like it when I touch you like this?” before dipping his finger into her core. The only response she was able to articulate was another moan, her fingers tightening on his shoulder as she cried out in blissful delight.

Removing his hand from her nether-regions, Kai looked at his soaked fingers before looking back at Shepard and grinning. He moved his hand toward her face and told her to, “Taste yourself, Jane. Taste how badly you want me.”

There were flames behind her green eyes, a dangerous dragonfire that warned him to enjoy his games while they lasted, because they wouldn’t last much longer. Sucking his fingers clean, she hummed as though she were the best thing she’d ever tasted. Once he freed his fingers from between her lips, she smiled at him and said, “It’s impolite to leave a lady wanting, Mr. Leng.”

A grin expanded over his face. Shepard had lost her patience with him. She wanted him too badly to wait for his next orders and hope that they were to remove the last of her underwear. Deciding that he too was ready to get to the good part, Kai kneeled on the bed and stared down at the masterpiece laying expectantly on his bed.

Hooking his fingers through her underwear, Kai pulled off her lacy panties and threw them over his shoulder. He took a moment to appreciate the beauty splayed out before him, feeling his member twitch in delight at the sight laying in wait.

Kai grabbed Jane by the thighs and tugged her towards him, smiling at the sound of her surprised yelp. He stroked his length before moistening himself on her silky folds. Looking up to meet Jane’s feverish gaze, they shared an intense moment that he couldn’t begin to understand. Kai felt like a piece of himself was reaching out to her, a smoky whisper seeking her out in exchange for a mirroring  piece of herself. Blinking, he dismissed the intimacy of the moment, and returned his focus to the carnal need to be inside of her.

He leaned forward, holding himself up on an elbow as he inched himself into her core. Kai shut his eyes, unable to breathe past the pleasure gathering painfully at the base of his spine. Her sheath was tight and scorching hot around him, threatening to undo him before he even moved against her.

After several deep and calming breaths he trusted himself to carry on without finding his end prematurely. Jane’s arms were wrapped around his neck, securing him against her as he started to pump. Finding his rhythm, Kai leaned back a bit to get the best angle and was rewarded by a loud, thirsty moan. Her nails dug into his shoulder blades, dragging down with each of his thrusts.

All he could feel was her heat, her inner fire. Kai was being swallowed up by her, turned to ash, dust to be blown away by a gentle wind. She was mind numbing, erasing everything but his need for her, his desire to be one with her, a desperate and growing belief that without her he could no longer draw breath. While a large part of him was scared of this feeling sprouting inside of him, he could only bring himself to pay attention to the part that was angered by the same.

He’d gone to Flux earlier that night to meet Shepard, to gauge her worth as a person and discover if the fandom around her had any merit. He had not gone to be put under her spell, to be enamored by her like another one of her obsessed followers. Yet here he was, sucked in and spellbound, a slave to her whims, whose only purpose was to give her satisfaction.

Pulling her leg over his shoulder, Kai and Jane both groaned out by the blessed feel of this new position. Her core hugged him tighter like this, his member rubbing against her in all of the right places. Kai could feel the white heat pooling at the base of his spine, simmering like lava waiting to erupt from a restless volcano. He was at his crescendo and could tell by her tightening core that she was also near climax.

He reached down to where their bodies met, where they were melded into one and found the bead of hypersensitive nerve endings. Rubbing her swollen nub, Kai lavishly escorted her over the edge, shoving her into a violent orgasm that had her shuddering against him. Her core pulsated around him, the snug compressions milking him as the pool of fire gathered in his depths finally spilled out inside of her.

Kai fell onto the bed beside Jane, breathless in wake of his riveting release. Never before had he experienced a climax as intense as the one he’d just shared with Jane. If he hadn’t been addicted to her before, then he sure as hell was now. She was worse than the purest redsand, she was a poison and an antidote all in one, and without her Kai would deteriorate to nothing.

Their heavy breaths filled the hotel room as they both tried to calm their racing hearts. Kai looked over at Jane and grinned when he found her already gazing at him. He took her hand in his and brought her knuckles to his lips. Pressing a long kiss to her hand, he muttered, “That was fun.”

She grinned at him, her eyes shining with an emotion he couldn’t name but could identify inside of himself. “Yeah,” she agreed. “Let’s do it again sometime.”

Her smile was too bright and too beautiful to stand alone. He couldn’t wipe the simper from his lips even if he wanted to. “Give me a minute to catch my breath.” said Kai, his smile growing at the amused quirk to her eyebrow. “And ‘sometime’ will happen sooner than you know.”

Jane pulled herself nearer to him and nuzzled his neck. The heat of her breath summoned goosebumps to his surface as she purred, “Maybe I can help the process along.” and trailed her fingers down his chest.

Shutting his eyes to relish the feel of her warm hands tracing down his torso, Kai couldn’t fight the warm feeling spreading inside of him. He doubted that, after tonight, he’d have the mind to let her leave his bed ever again.

 

 


	4. Chapter Four

_To: Operative Leng_

_From: The Illusive man_

_Subject: Udina_

_Udina has the rest of C-Sec’s passcodes. Get them from him. I want the last preparations finalized before the end of the week._

_I.M._

___

Kai scraped his nails through his hair, scratching his scalp as he read through the message one more time. After an indescribable night, dawn brought reality in tow and he couldn’t help but feel a bit put out about that fact. He gave the woman sleeping soundly beside him a sidelong glance, a strange flutter in his gut at the sight of her nude form sprawled out on the bed like she was accustomed to sleeping alone.

A small smile pulled at the corners of his mouth as he remembered the fun they’d shared the previous night. Last night had been… Kai had no words, but the fondness with which he remembered it was reverent. He and Jane had existed on another plane of reality. They’d melded together, becoming one in a way that transcended flesh. He’d never experienced anything like it. Kai’s smile fell at the thought of the Illusive Man’s message. He’d never be able to experience anything like it again.

Scooting closer to the beautiful woman deeply resting beside him, Kai leaned down and brushed aside her short red hair. With the nape of her neck now revealed to him, he pressed a gentle kiss onto her warm and pale flesh. The warm feeling radiating inside of his chest was foreign to him.

Jane stirred, animating under the heat of his affection and the proximity of his body to hers. Realizing that their position was a touch too intimate, Kai inched away from her a bit and waited for her to wake fully. He watched her, mesmerized as she threw her toned arms over her head and stretched herself out with a jurrasic-like squeak. When the sleep was wrung from her muscles, and the bones in her back and neck were popped, she met Kai’s gaze with a contented simper on her lovely lips.

“Morning tiger,” she purred in greeting, her eyes still heavy with sleep. Pulling herself up until her back was propped against the headboard, she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and yawned.

He had to fight the urge to reach over to her and caress the rise of her cheekbone. Kai’s smile was mischievous when she met his gaze again. “Did you sleep well?”

The sparkle returned to her eyes, the same playful one he’d first noticed at Flux, the one that had spurred him on like a frenzied shark only hours ago. Happily, she affirmed, “That was the best night’s sleep I’ve had in a very long time.” Adjusting the pillow behind her back, she remarked, “It’s a damn good thing that you ‘spare no expense when it comes to where you rest your head,’ eh, Mr. Leng?”

The smile on his lips grew at the sound of her teasing him. Leaning closer to her, Kai nudged her with his nose until she exposed her neck to him. Nuzzling the arch of her neck, he rumbled, “I’m sure the pillows aren’t the only reason you slept so well, Ms. Doe.”

A laugh burst out of her then, the sound of her igniting arousal evident in the undercurrents of her tone. “You are such a cocky bastard, you know that?” She brushed him away from her neck before turning on the bed and crawling onto his lap.

They were still naked, too spent the previous night to be bothered to get dressed. Her pert breasts were exposed to him, begging for his attention, but Kai kept his wavering focus on her vibrantly green gaze. He wouldn’t be able to ignore her naked body on top of his for long, but he would hold out for as long as he could. Heat was already rushing south and there was nothing to be done against it.

Brushing back her enrapturing red hair, he held her by the nape of the neck and replied, “I don’t remember you complaining last night.”

Jane hummed, the smirk on her lips growing into a ravenous grin as she too remembered their hours of sensual exertion. Rolling her pelvis over his hardening member, she inquired, “What’s to complain about?”

He couldn’t think. Her heat was muddying his thoughts, and Kai was losing himself to his arousal, becoming a slave to her warmth and touch all over again. He was only partially aware of the time, his meeting with Udina rearing its annoying head.

His hands rubbed her thighs by their own free will, needing to feel her, encouraging her to keep moving against him even if he knew that they didn’t have time for another tumble. Licking his lips as he held her fiery gaze, Kai regrettably stated, “I have a meeting…”

A wolfish smirk curled her full lips. Placing her hands on either side of his head on the headboard behind him, Jane leaned forward and trapped his head between her arms before bringing her lips to his. Without claiming his mouth, she quietly replied, her tone husky and colluding. “And I have a galaxy to save. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t take advantage of the moment.”

She rocked her hips against him, with only the sheets to separate her body from his. “We’re not likely to see each other again, and I want to make this last for as long as I can.”

Kai’s heart lurched in his chest, recognizing his own desires in her statement. Cupping the back of her head, he pulled her mouth the rest of the way and claimed her lips as his own. Her reaction to him was immediate, instinctual. She held his face prisoner in her hands as her tongue danced against his, her body moving with a primal need.

Last night Kai had laid claim to Jane, to all of her. His commands were obeyed, his desires were met, she was his to do as he wished. But now it was morning, and it was Jane running the show. Never being much of a follower, Kai had to resign himself to her lead, he had to submit to this breathtaking and powerful woman. Surprisingly, it wasn’t as difficult as he’d been expecting it to be.

When Shepard leaned away from him, Kai kept his mouth entangled with hers, refusing to release her tongue from their dance. She smiled against his mouth, as though expecting nothing less from him. Grabbing his hands by the wrists, Jane moved his hold from her neck all the way down to her breasts. Happy to fondle her warm and perky mounds, Kai started to knead her breasts, and freed her lips from his if only to have a taste of her pearled nipples.

A low and sensual groan rolled out of her as he flicked his tongue over her pointed breasts. Jane held him against her bosom, pinning his mouth to her until her breaths turned jagged. She was writhing in his lap, gyrating against him, seeking him out through the sheet. It didn’t take her very long to become frustrated by their needless separation.

Sitting up in his lap, she jerked the sheet out from between them. A large grin carved across her lips at the sight of his arousal springing free in greeting. Meeting his hooded gaze, her grin turned into a foxy smirk as she reached down between them and began to stroke his length. Her smirk became dangerous at the sound of Kai’s approving growl, and he knew that she intended to torture him.

She stroked him slowly, casually, as though neither of them had places to be, as though this moment of stolen intimacy was the only thing in the universe of importance. Kai couldn’t bring himself to disagree. Udina would still be there in an hour, the galaxy would still be at war. Right now, this moment, their time together, it was fleeting and he intended to enjoy Jane for as long as he could.

Jane bit into her lip. She was hovering over his engorged manhood, her entrance so painfully close, but instead of lowering herself onto him she continued to rub him up and down. Kai’s grip on her hips was needy, urgent. She was teasing him and he couldn’t take much more of it. His gaze roved over her, admiring her magnificent body in the Citadel’s faux light of day.

The heat raging inside of him was polysemous. Flames of carnal desire forcing his hands to feel her every curve and dip, fought with a different kind of heat lapping at his chest, consuming his heart, branding him as hers. He’d never felt anything like it, and it scared him.

Green eyes staring straight into his soul, Jane held his gaze as she finally decided to end his suffering. She positioned him at her entrance, lubricating his tip with the hot moisture of her folds. A sharp hiss ripped through his clenched teeth at the feel of her molten heat slowly sheathing him entirely. When she was buried to the hilt they stayed frozen like that for a moment, peering into each others eyes while she adjusted to accommodate his girth.

His heart was thrumming against his eardrums, his breath ragged, their combined heat was already pulling a light sweat out of him and they hadn’t even gotten started. It was Jane. She had this effect on him, made him feel as though he was running a marathon just to keep up with her. Not only was she worth the race, but just being in her presence made him feel like doing a victory lap as well. Smiling at Jane, Kai brushed her beautiful red hair out of her face. He supposed that "victory lap" was exactly what they were doing right now.

Jane started to move and his mind went blank. His fingers pressed firmly into her hips as she rolled against him, riding him. Each rock of her body was measured, premeditated to drag out both of their pleasure. It was mind numbing. Kai threw his head back, a beastly groan riding out on a heavy exhale, revealing just how amazing he thought she felt.

The silken walls of her fiery core hugged him so snuggly, massaging his length entirely from base to tip, up and down, and back again. Jane leaned back and they both moaned at the intensity of it. With her hand on his shin, she started to pump him in and out of her, and the friction was nothing short of addictive. Her breasts bounced with each thrust, and Kai was enraptured by the sight of her.

She was a fierce and demanding creature. Jane was powerful, strong, determined, and she was that way in all aspects of her life; be it fighting Reapers or fucking strangers. At the rhythmic sound of her body meeting his, Kai knew deep down that they’d done so much more than just fuck. Their sex was more, and he felt like he himself was more when their bodies united like this. He wouldn’t call it love making, but he was finding it terribly difficult to come up with a different phrase.

A pool of fire was filling to the brim at the base of his spine. Kai was close to combustion, and he could tell by how Jane’s thrusts had lost their rhythm that she was also near her end. Sitting up, he kissed her collarbone before nipping at the sensitive skin of her neck. His hand snaked between them, finding her nub and started to massage it in small circles; slowly at first then growing in speed and aggression.

Before long Jane’s arms were wrapped around Kai’s neck, hugging him tightly as her riding turned sloppy. Her moans were loud in his ear, stoking the dangerously full pool of white hot heat boiling in his core. When he bit into her neck again, only for his tongue to caress the offended area, Jane’s crescendo was met by climax, her pulsating walls hugging his length with desperate throbs.

Feeling himself so close to orgasm, Kai threw Jane onto her back and rammed into her. His body met hers once, twice, three times before the lake of fire finally burst free. A pained cry sounded from him at the intensity of it and, for a moment, it felt as though his spirit had left his body. Sex wasn’t normally an outer body experience, but then again what he and Jane did was more than sex.

The sound of their heavy breathing was the only one in the room for a short while, though Kai was next to certain that she could hear the rap of his pounding heart. Peeling his face from the crook of her neck, he stared down at her and couldn’t help the satisfied smirk that twitched at the corners of his mouth.

Brushing aside her brilliantly red hair, he asked, “You hungry?”

She returned his smile, a girlish giggle bubbling out of her. He could tell by her dilated eyes that she was enjoying the endorphin rush of their lovemaking-- _fucking_ , Kai corrected himself. Jane buried her fingers in his black hair, her grin dopey when she answered. “Starving.”

Kai pressed a quick kiss to her neck before peeling himself off of her and standing from the bed. Taking in the sight of her naked body sprawled so beautifully on the bed, he reluctantly turned away from her and walked toward the bathroom. “Let’s wash up and grab something to eat.”

“I thought you had a meeting.” she replied to his back as he walked away from her.

Without looking over his shoulder, he rebuked, “And I thought you had a galaxy to save.” and stepped into the bathroom. Turning on the shower, he shouted over the falling water, “We’ll grab something to eat on the way to the docking bays. What’s wrong with enjoying the moment for a little while longer?”

He hadn’t heard her approach. That was why when she replied with a happy, “There’s nothing wrong with it at all,” from the doorway, it had caught him by surprise.

Kai smiled at Jane, this strange feeling in his chest growing with every step of her casual approach. When she was standing directly in front of him, head tilted back so that she could meet his gaze, she placed her hands on his chest. “We should enjoy it while it lasts.”

Placing his finger under her chin, he guided her mouth to his and kissed her. His thoughts returned to the Illusive Man’s message. This moment, great as it was, wonderful as it felt, couldn't last forever. She wasn’t aware of it yet, but they were enemies. And soon she’d find out.

He’d gone to Flux to find out whether or not the fandom surrounding Commander Jane Shepard was worth its size and, after last night, he had his answer. The answer was no, it wasn’t worth its size, it was worth so much more. She was incredible. Jane was the most breathtaking woman he had ever met. Showstopping, ass kicking, and enrapturing as she was, there wasn’t a single person in the whole galaxy that could ever compare.

And she was his enemy.

Kai fought to keep his lips from frowning. They had the moment, and they would have it for a little while longer. Right now they were lovers, and right now was exactly where he wanted to be.

* * *

 

‘Walk of shame’ had never felt more mistitled. Joy, contentment, elation, all fine adjectives for what she was currently feeling. But shame? No, shame was the furthest thing from her mind. Her clothes were wrinkled, her makeup was long gone, and Shepard felt amazing.

Last night had been… there wasn’t a word in any human language to describe the experience. They’d been so in sync the entire night, predicting the other’s needs and desires, freely giving of their bodies. She’d felt connected to Kai Leng like she’d never felt with anyone before. It was disorientingly perfect, and her head was still spinning.

She watched him as he placed their orders with the food vendor, wondering where this man had come from. His black hair shone like obsidian under the Presidium Common’s pseudo daylight, brushed back and away from his face. The volumous, pin straight strands refused to stay put and immediately fell back into his eyes, only to be brushed away again. The man was gorgeous, and Shepard was smitten.

Why had it taken so long for them to find each other? And why was it that they’d finally stumbled upon each other in the middle of a war that was sure to kill her? Jane pursed her lips as she stared at his back, musing over the universe's terribly comedic sense of timing.

When Kai turned to face her again, cup of coffee and plain bagel held out in offering, she accepted the food with a smile. “Thank you,” she said, taking a long sip from the freshly brewed coffee. The dark fluid burned her tongue, and she welcomed its bitter heat with a happy hum.

The string dangling over the side of his own cup indicated that he’d gone with tea, black tea to be precise. An observation that Shepard stored away for no reason other than she desperately wanted to know everything about this incredible man. Her heart fluttered when he offered her a small smile before leading them back on their way toward the docking bay.

“I didn’t take you for a plain bagel type of person,” he commented as they walked, quickly glancing at her before returning his attention forward. Kai’s tone was distant when he added, “I figured you to be more inclined to have a full spread for breakfast.”

Shepard smiled at his observation, taking a bite out of her painfully lackluster breakfast. After washing down the bagel with hot coffee, she replied, “Normally I am.” He met her gaze again and they both smiled at each other, Jane couldn’t help but wonder why his gorgeous eyes seemed to shine so somberly this morning.

“Doesn’t matter what meal of the day it is,” she continued, deciding that she must have been imagining the sadness in his eyes. “I eat every meal like it's my last.”

He hummed in understanding. Kai met her gaze again and Shepard knew that she hadn’t been imagining the dejection in their depths. He glanced away to watch where they were going, before looking back at her, only for the dispirited look to be gone from his eyes. “I imagine that, in your line of work, that could possibly be the case.”

Her heart fell, knowing that his thoughts mirrored her own. Shepard wasn’t likely to survive this war. Being in the Alliance for as long as she was, fighting in as many battles as she had, Shepard had always known to treat each fight like it could be her last. When the certainty of death was expected, she could more easily appreciate that life was made up by a series of moments. She found it profoundly important to live each moment to the fullest, and she didn’t want this moment with Kai Leng to be dampered by dark thoughts.

Shrugging, she casually replied, “Death’s a part of life. Whether or not there’s a war on, soldier or civilian, we all die eventually. It’s the moments that make life worthwhile, and I intend to enjoy every moment I have.”

She maneuvered her half eaten bagel into the hand holding her coffee, and intertwined her freed fingers through his. When Kai’s surprised, and mildly uncomfortable, gaze moved down to their interlocked hands, he stared at them for a while as though the gesture was new to him. After a second he peered back up at her, a crestfallen shadow in his poorly guarded eyes.

They walked like that for a little while, hand in hand as though they hadn’t just met the previous night, but had known each other for years. Not a single word was exchanged as they left the Commons and found their way to the elevator that would take them to the docking bay. Though the silence was far from uncomfortable, Shepard wished she knew what to say to fill it. She didn’t want to leave him on this glum note.

They’d spent a beautiful night together. She’d gone to Flux looking for a distraction and instead found a new fascination. Not once had she expected to be so completely enraptured by a man, and yet Kai had done exactly that. The handsome man had gotten under her skin over the course of hours, and now she was sad that their time had to come to an end. In the terms of one night stands, this was definitely not the way that it was supposed to go.

The elevator dinged, the doors parting with a swoosh. They stepped out together, onto docking bay 24 where the Normandy awaited her, where reality was demanding her swift return. Shepard stared down at their still interlaced fingers and thumbed over Kai’s knuckles. Her heart was druming somberly against her ribcage, knowing that  this was likely to be the last time that they were ever going to see each other again. She fought against the urge to ask for his contact information, knowing that it would probably be better if they didn’t reach out to one another, not when starting anything now seemed so pointless.

“So,” she started awkwardly, unable to look up from their hands and meet his gaze quite yet. “I had a good time.”

He freed his hand from hers with a gentle tug. Tucking a finger under her chin, Kai lifted her face to meet his eyes and Jane could see the uncertainty in his beautiful irises. “So did I.” Thumb brushing over her bottom lip, he leaned down a bit before whispering, “You take care of yourself out there, Ms. Doe.”

The kiss was a deep one, a farewell, a goodbye forever. Jane grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled him closer, sucking him in as though his breath was life. When they reluctantly parted, Jane breathed in a calming breath, forcing the upheaval of sorrowful emotions back down. She barely knew this man. Them parting ways wasn’t supposed to be this hard. Them never seeing each other again wasn’t supposed to be this depressing.

Clearing her throat, she tucked her bangs behind and ear and corrected him. “It’s Shepard now.” She glanced back at the Normandy through the docking bay’s expansive windows, fighting back the sadness that was starting to run like oil through her veins. “Our moment is up, Mr. Leng.”

The look he gave her was schooled into neutrality. Cupping her cheek in his hand, he whispered almost inaudibly. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” She blinked hard, confused and flabbergasted as to why he felt that an apology was even necessary. He’d done nothing wrong. _They’d_ done nothing wrong. “Last night was perfect,” Shepard assured him, her expression sturn so that there would be no doubt. “I’m happy that it happened, and I’m not sorry.”

Kai shook his head, gesturing that she didn’t understand his meaning, and that they didn’t have time for him to explain. Tenderly peeling her hands from the front of his shirt, he kissed her knuckles before releasing her. “It was an honor to have met you, Commander Shepard.”

Him calling her anything but Jane felt so sickeningly wrong. She looked him in the eye, knowing full well that he would be able to see the sadness in her expression. “The honor was mine,” she replied, swallowing hard against the sense of loss massing in her throat.

Offering him a weary smile, she said, “Good luck at your meeting, Kai Leng. I hope it goes exactly the way you want it to.”

“It will.” he said in that cocksure way of his.

Her smile grew, happy to hear the arrogance back in his voice. She took a step back, throwing a quick glance over her shoulder to find the Normandy waiting. The smile on her mouth slipped, this was it.

"Guess this is goodbye," mumbled Shepard, mustering the courage to look him in the eye again.

The small twitch of his lips was sympathetic. Nodding, he returned, " I guess it is."

As much as she didn't want to leave, as impossible as it felt to move any further away from him, she forced herself another step back, and then another, until she finally turned her back to him and started for the boarding ramp to the ship she called home.

She could feel the weight of Kai's heavy gaze on her back, could feel her own sense of overwhelming loss grow with each step that distanced them. Without looking back at him, not daring to steal even one more glance, she strode forward until she was walking back through the Normandy's airlock.

"Commander," Joker's mischievous voice greeted her when she walked aboard the cruiser. His grin was playfully accusing when she stopped just in front of the cockpit. Arching a knowing eyebrow he wondered in a sing-song tone, "Did you have a good night?"

The memory of the night before brought a grin onto her lips, and Joker’s smile also grew at the sight of her obvious infatuation. “I did,” she answered, chuckling lightly at the knowing sparkle in the helmsman’s eyes. “Thank you for asking.”

EDI turned in the co-pilot’s seat and she addressed Shepard with a very human like smirk on her lips. “A package arrived for you, Commander.” To the surprised expression that etched along Shepard’s face, the AI explained, “It arrived early this morning. Jeff has advised me not to disclose what is inside.”

Joker grinned at her, “EDI couldn’t decide whether it should’ve been sent to your room or the armory,” he hinted. When Shepard’s features turned suspicious, he informed her, “It’s in your cabin.”

Her curiosity was insatiable. Nodding in gratitude to both of them, she instructed pilot to, “Get us out of here, Joker,” before she turned on her heel and headed to the elevator. After quickly checking in with Traynor, she stepped into the lift and tapped her foot as she waited for the metal deathtrap to bring her to the loft.

The elevator doors parted and Shepard hurried into her room, intrigued to find out what had been delivered to her. Once inside, she immediately noticed the medium sized box sitting on her desk. She approached the white package cautiously, half expecting it to explode or for something equally undesirable to happen. When she was standing in front of her desk and the package hadn’t started to act suspiciously, she decided to open in.

Carefully removing the top, her expression furrowed at the sight of a card resting on top of an N7 Hurricane. She picked up the holo-card and flicked it on, her heart leaping into her throat at the sight of what was written inside.

 

_Jane,_

_For being such a graceful loser._

_Enjoy,_

_K._

_P.S. Graceful or no, you’re still a loser._

___

A grin expanded over her lips, her heart soaring with elation. Instead of getting his own weapon with his winnings, Kai had bought her exactly what she’d wanted. It was strangely considerate, she thought before remembering how he was in the bedroom. Though the handsome man liked to project otherwise, he was a surprisingly thoughtful person.

Setting the holo-card down, Shepard picked up the N7 Hurrican and felt it in her grasp. This was a great weapon, and now she would only ever think of her night with Kai whenever she used it. She set it back down inside of the box and decided to change into her fatigues before escorting the gun all the way back down to the armory.

Though she doubted that it would happen, Shepard hoped that she’d see Kai Leng again before the end of this war. If death was inevitable, she’d prefer to die knowing whether or not what she felt about last night was reciprocated. 


	5. Chapter 5

Charles Presley, Richard L Jenkins, Ashley Williams, and now Mordin Solus… Jane ground her teeth to keep her emotions at bay, gritting them until an ache started to spread in her jaw. They’d been at this Godforsaken war for so long already and there wasn’t an end in sight. She fought back the hopelessness of it all. How many more friends did she have to lose to the Reapers? How much more of her family needed to be stripped from her before this war finally met its end?

Tuchanka was one step forward, and tomorrow they’d take another three back. That was how this war was playing out. No matter how hard they fought, no matter how many races joined together, the Reapers were bigger in size, number, and strength; better in strategy, technology, and mobility. The only hope organic life had was the Catalyst, and they didn’t even have a complete blueprint of the damn thing.

How long was she supposed to keep at this old song and dance? _As long as it takes_ , she said to herself, not allowing doubt to reach its black inky fingers into her soul. Too many people were relying on her to win this war. Hell, the whole galaxy was depending on her. After years of bureaucratic bullshit, media cover ups, and the Council outright denying Shepard’s multiple warnings about the Reapers as outrageous, the whole damn galaxy was dependant on her contribution to the war effort. She wouldn’t let them down, she couldn’t.

Standing in front of the memorial wall, Jane reached up to where Mordin’s name was inscribed to the metallic plate and felt the cold letters under her fingertips. She’d miss him. The fast pace with which he used to speak, the tirades he’d go on about his scientific studies, the show tunes he’d sing while performing his experiments. Never before had Shepard met a person like Mordin, and never again would she meet his equal. Mordin died a hero, but Jane wished that he hadn’t had to die at all.

“The galaxy’s lesser without you, old friend,” she whispered, before stepping back from the memorial wall and taking in the names of everyone the Normandy had lost. Too many friends were on that wall already, and Shepard couldn’t help but wonder how many more would join them.

She tensed at the feeling of someone stepping up behind her. Throwing a glance over her shoulder, Jane found Garrus at her six, where she always trusted him to be. She offered her turian friend a small smile and turned to face him. Before she could address him, Garrus’s dual toned voice beat her to the punch.

“Lotta names on that wall.”

Looking back at the memorial wall, she released a long, slow exhale and agreed. “Too many.”

“What we did on Tachunka, Shepard, it was,” Garrus shook his head, mandibles flaring as he searched for the words adequate enough describe the experience. “That cut ran deep and ugly, and you helped start the healing process. The krogan have a real future thanks to you,” his steel blue eyes darted to the memorial wall before he added, “And thanks to Mordin.”

When Garrus returned his gaze onto Jane there was a brotherly smile on his plated features. “You set things right, like you always do.”

“We did that, Garrus.” She corrected, refusing to shoulder all of his praise. Jane was only a soldier in this war, to think that she was anything more was foolish. Hoping to lighten the mood of their conversation, Shepard allowed a playful smirk to twist her lips and she crossed her arms in front of her chest before stating, “Just another day at the office, eh Vakarian?”

Chuckling, he nodded in wholehearted agreement. “Reapers and Thresher Maws, it must be Tuesday.”

“Not to mention another distressed politician.” she added, remembering the message she received from the salarian consulate about Udina.

Brow plates arching with curiosity and intrigue, Garrus admitted, “Liara mentioned that we’re headed back to the Citadel,” before asking, “What’s the problem?”

Shepard shrugged. “Most likely nothing.” She’d dealt with more politicians than any one person had any right to, she knew how they worked. This was more than likely just something Udina said or did being blown out of proportion or misinterpreted. It wasn’t like she had a soft spot for the human councilor or anything, because she actually despised the man, but politicians had a taste for melodrama and liked to suck Shepard into it whenever they had the chance.

“The salarian councilor thinks that Udina’s a security risk and wants to discuss it with me,” she explained to her friend, aware that situations like these demanded a certain level of secrecy, and not having it in her to care. Garrus was like a brother to her, they’d been to hell and back. If anyone was going to understand her frustration with the Council and Udina, it would be him. “When it comes to that dirt bag I’d rather be kept in the loop.”

“I get it,” Garrus agreed with a nod. Silence joined them for a moment and his expression fell a bit. Glancing quickly at the memorial wall one more time, her turian brother in arms said, “You know that you can talk to me. Don’t you, Shepard?”

Taken aback by his statement and question, Jane nodded that she not only knew that, but appreciated it as well. “Yeah, Garrus. And thanks for always being there.” Offering him a sideways smile, she remembered something else that she wanted to go over with Traynor before stopping by the cockpit. “I should go check in with Joker and EDI. Talk to you later, Garrus.”

Nodding, he said, “You know where to find me if you need me, Shepard.” and watched as she stepped onto the elevator.

When the doors slid shut before her, Jane let out a heavy sigh. There was this pit in her gut. She’d noticed it first thing in the morning and it had only grown throughout the day. Something terrible was about to happen, she could feel it in her bones. She’d fought in too many battles, survived against the odds on too many separate occasions, to ignore the feeling. Something was going to happen, she only wished that she knew exactly what.

Her thoughts wandered to Kai then, to the night they’d shared together. Ever since leaving him on the Citadel that day, Jane had regretted not getting his contact information. She knew that she probably wouldn’t survive this war, and it was unfair and just flat out stupid to start a relationship with someone when they couldn’t possibly have a future together. But what was wrong with just fucking?

Leaning back against the cool metal wall, she relished in the feeling of the cold surface seeping through her fatigues. It helped to keep her blood from warming at the memory of that night and the morning after. What they’d done had been more than just fucking, Shepard wished that it was as simple as just sex. But it wasn’t. She’d never felt that level of emotional connection with another human being before, especially not one that she didn’t even know.

Kai Leng had branded himself into her flesh, and now Jane no longer felt like she was her own person, but that a part of her belonged to him as well. How many times had she used the word ‘love’ throughout her life? She’d said it to Kaidan, and more recently to Jacob. And, at the time, she’d felt like it was the honest to God truth. But that night with Kai had changed her perspective of the word and, while she wouldn’t admit to loving the man, Jane couldn’t help but now feel as though she’d been using the word so carelessly before.

Love didn’t fit into the equation of her life at the moment. Stress relief through sex, that made perfect sense, but love? No, she didn’t have time for it. What did it matter anyway? She wasn’t likely to see Kai Leng ever again. Either he’d die by Reaper hands, or she would. Their night together had been perfect, and she was grateful for the memory. That was all that she could allow herself.

The elevator doors slid open and Jane brushed all thoughts of Kai Leng to the back of her mind. They were almost to the Citadel by now. There was work to be done and she couldn’t waste her time on daydreams and fantasies of what could’ve been.

 

* * *

 

So far everything was going according to plan. C-Sec was disabled, Cerberus was fanning out across the Citadel, and Udina was with the Council. Yes they did have a Spectre escort but Major Kaidan Alenko hardly merited a second thought. He didn't even merit an afterthought. To think that the man was Jane’s former lover, he shook his head in disgust at the very thought. Kai couldn't think of anyone less worthy of her.

" _I have a visual on the councillors, operative Leng_." A voice said into his comm.  

"Good." Kai replied, satisfied that, at least for now, everything was going according to plan. He knew to always prepare himself for the worst and, when working a job of this magnitude with this many variables, the worst was chasing his heels like a shadow.

Pressing a finger to the comm. in his ear, he asked, "Are all the Councilors with the Major?" He ground his teeth with the Cerberus soldier's reply.

" _That's a negative, Sir. The salarian councilor is missing._ "

He remembered that the salarian councilor had arranged for a meeting with the Executor. When Cerberus had launched the attack on the Citadel, that was more than likely where she had probably been. While he could send some troops to look for the amphibious bitch, Kai couldn’t trust finding her to anyone but himself. If he found her dead, that was one less Councilor to contend with down the road; if she turned up alive, Cerberus’ plans proceeded without a misstep. Either way, she needed to be found.

Pressing two fingers to his comm. Kai said, “I’m going to find her. Keep an eye on the Councilors, make sure that they’re being herded to the evac point.”

“ _Roger that, Sir_.”

Abandoning his post atop a building in the Presidium, Kai hurried for the embassies. Cerberus was giving C-Sec one hell of a fight, one that they hadn’t been ready for, one that the Citadel was losing. Yet there was still a pit in his stomach, a foreboding that something was about to go wrong. He needed to find the salarian Councilor and get her with the others. Cerberus needed to gain control of the Citadel, and the Illusive Man was counting on him to get it done.

Kai raced down the stairs, in too much of a hurry to bother waiting for the lift to reach the rooftop. The Embassies were only a short sky-car ride away, but an armada of panicked C-Sec officers stood between him and his destination. Once he reached the ground floor of the building Kai removed his ninjaken from its sheath, the blade singing as it was pulled free.

There were three C-Sec officers standing just outside of the building, caught in a firefight against Cerberus troops. They were pinned down, backs to Kai, in the perfect position to meet their end. Twirling the blade in his grasp, a grin inched across his face. These officers posed not even a hint of a challenge, but there was a battle on and the thrill of it filled him with an unshakeable energy.

The doors parted before him, soundless whispers as they pulled apart and he exited from the building. Thunderous gunfire kept the hushed doorway from alerting the C-Sec officers of his approach. Had they heard him they might have stood a semblance of a chance. Kai stepped up behind the closest officer, a turian, dressed in C-Sec blue and protected by a suit of heavy armor.

C-Sec armor was state of the art, military grade, and yet not even it could save the turian from his blade. There was an opening right in the back of the turian’s neck that was unshielded, left unprotected and vulnerable to attack. Kai was in the perfect position to strike. Lifting the blade in his grasp he positioned it, and quickly plunged the metal into the turian’s neck and down his spine. The officer gurgled, misfiring and dropping his weapon as he died, and still the other officer’s hadn’t yet noticed Kai’s presence among them. Satisfied that he could kill at least one more of them before being noticed, he moved onto the next officer.

The asari was focused on attacking Cerberus troops as he soundlessly approached from behind her. Throwing orbs of blue energy across to where the enemy was positioned, she wasn’t paying attention to the predator stalking up behind her. The blue skinned alien didn’t have a moment to realize that the true danger wasn’t on the other side of the street, but standing directly at her back.

Grabbing her from behind, Kai gripped the asari by the jaw and sharply twisted her neck until he felt the telltale snap that meant she was dead. The last of the officers realized too late that he was the only one left. He turned the gun on Kai, grip trembling as his life was probably flashing before his eyes. With his forearm, Kai swatted the pistol from his grasp, shoving aside the human officer’s arm and opening him to attack. The man stumbled back and almost fell over his own feet.

Kai gripped him firmly by the collar of his armor and sheathed his blade with the human’s eye socket. He watched as the officer slowly slid off of his sword, leaving behind a trail of blood that mixed with turian’s before him. Once his body hit the ground with a thump, a pool of red quickly spreading out beneath him, Kai stepped over the C-Sec officers and into the middle of the street.

A Cerberus shuttle descended, the door yawning open and inviting him to enter. Kai re-sheathed his blade and stepped on board the shuttle. Walking toward the pilot, he instructed, “Take me to the Embassies.”

The pilot nodded, accepting his instructions before informing him that, “The Normandy is trying to dock on the Citadel, Operative Leng. A shuttle has entered Citadel air-space.”

 _Shit_. Kai scowled at the information, his fists tightening with both outrage and nervousness. If Jane was on the Citadel that meant that this coup could be prejudged as a failure. It was she who had inspired him to pursue larger scale jobs, and it would be her to make sure that he failed.

Taking a seat in the co-pilot’s chair, Kai told the pilot to, “Get me to the embassies. Now.”

There was still a sliver of hope. Cerberus could still gain control of the Citadel, he just needed to find the salarian councilor. Once he had her, Udina, and the other councilors his mission would be just about done. Victory was so close, Kai could almost taste it. The only obstacle in his way was the fiercest woman in the entire galaxy.

Nervousness started to mass in his throat, suffocating him. This would be the first time seeing each other since their night together. Jane would finally realize who he was and who he worked for. She’d hate him, and that knowledge shouldn’t have hurt him as much as it did. They were enemies, they were supposed to hate each other, but all Kai had for Jane was respect, and something else he had yet to identify.

Jane’s feelings for him couldn’t be important right now. The only thing he could allow himself to focus on was completing this coup and delivering the Citadel to Cerberus.

 

* * *

 

 

Jane would never understand Cerberus. The galaxy was at war with sentient robots and Cerberus attacked the Citadel of all places. And for what? What would they gain by controlling the space station? Without the Citadel the whole galaxy risked collapse, a galaxy that Cerberus was a part of. The Illusive Man, and what demented things went on in his head, would never make sense to her.

She stood beside the door, looking at both James and Garrus before giving the marine a curt nod. James punched the holographic panel and the door hissed open. Turning into the room, Jane kept her weapon pointed forward, welcoming any potential attack and let out a breath when they weren’t met with resistance.

The only thing in the Executor’s office was corpses, and none of those were of the Councilor. Speaking into her omni-tool, Jane contacted Bailey. “Bailey, looks like they got the executor and two salarian body guards.”

A sigh sounded from the device on her wrist. Bailey’s voice filling the tomb of an office. “Damn. Alright. Keep searching, if you don’t see the councilor’s body don’t count her out yet.”

Sounded like a plan. Noticing that James was standing by the window, Jane strode up beside the soldier and peered down at the Embassies below. There was a large conference room table, surrounded by chairs just below the office. Just before her gaze could move elsewhere she noticed a chair roll away from the table, and a shape flicker out from under the surface. The tactical cloak shuddered and the salarian councilor appeared.

Relieved that the counselor had made herself easy to find, Jane quickly reached back out to Bailey. “Found her. She looks unharmed.”

“Get her somewhere safe.”

That was the plan. She turned away for just a second to talk to her squadmates and was immediately met with their surprised and perplexed faces. Both Garrus and James were staring down at the Councilor, wide eyed and concerned. Jane turned back around to see a figure standing in front of the Councilor, a threatening mein about the man. His intent was murderous, and Jane had to stop him.

She shot the glass and it shattered before her. Throwing herself out the window, she landed the floor a short distance below the office, just as the assassin leaped out of her line of fire and used the councilor as a shield between them. There was something familiar about the way he held himself, even if Jane couldn’t get a good look at his face around the salarian councilor’s slender frame, she felt like she knew him.

Just as she growled a ferocious, “Don’t even think about it.” the councilor took a slight step out of the way and Jane’s heart leaped into her throat. She stared wide eyed at the black haired man of predominantly Chinese heritage, her jaw falling at the sight of him.

The salarian’s fearful voice pulled her out of her surprise. “Shepard, he’s going to kill us all!”

Ignoring the councilor, Jane kept her N7 Hurricane trained on Kai Leng. He looked different in his Cerberus garbs. He looked ruthless, merciless. The material hugged him snugly, bringing attention to the strength of his muscles while also pronouncing the lethality of his body. A body that she was intimately familiar with, a body she’d enjoyed so much that it had felt like a life changing experience.

“What the fuck,” she whispered, unable to articulate anything beyond her crippling surprise.

Garrus and James stepped up from behind her, having decided to take the long way down instead of the shortcut that Jane had created for herself. At her left, James wondered in that cocksure way of his. “Friend of yours, Shepard?”

She disregarded James’s question, and the banter he’d meant to start with it, keeping her narrowed glare on Kai. A smile twitched at the corner of his mouth, the goading kind he’d used at the firing range, and later in his bedroom. That smile had melted her inside before, setting her blood aflame with desire, but now all it managed to do was stab her straight through the heart.

“Jane,” the arrogance of his voice was familiar, something she’d been so attracted to before. She’d enjoyed his confidence so much, but now he was speaking as her enemy, that arrogance a challenge to whether or not she could defeat him. “I don’t remember inviting you to this party.”

Her finger tightened around the trigger, the feeling of betrayal so strong she was half tempted to pull it. She knew the answer to her question before asking it, but she asked it anyway. “What the hell are you doing here, Kai?”

The corner of his mouth tugged upward in that way when he was enjoying a private joke. Making sure to keep the councilor between them, he replied, “Don’t you recognize a good old fashioned coup when you see one?”

Emotions flared inside of her, anger, pain, and regret spewing through her like filth and sewage. Kai was a Cerberus operative. She remembered that night at Flux, when they’d asked what the other did for a living. Shepard couldn’t even accuse him of lying, because he hadn’t been.

Even if he hadn’t been straight forward about it, he’d surmised what Cerberus believed itself to be. He’d said that he worked for a private philanthropic organization, and Jane had assumed some sort of nonprofit charity. A terrorist group had been the furthest thing from her mind.

She was an idiot. _Jesus fucking Christ_ , she felt like the biggest fool in the whole galaxy. Shaking her head, she shoved her embarrassment, and the betrayal that she felt, from her mind and returned to the job at hand. Glancing back at James and Garrus, when she returned her attention to Kai it was with the warning, “Three on one, Kai. It’s over.”

“No,” the device on the palm of his hand surged, a grin on his lips as he rebuked, “Now it’s fun.”

As the last word made it out of his mouth, a weapon appeared at his temple and Kai immediately reacted. It took Jane a second to recognize Thane dancing into the fray, fighting like he’d done months ago, like Kepral's wasn’t stealing his every breath before he even took them. Kai and the drell assassin danced a deadly tango. Fists and limbs soared through the air, deflected and dodged as Kai avoided Thane’s attacks and Thane anticipated Kai’s.

All she could do was watch, weapon pointed at the duo as she waited for an opening. A part of her hoped that Thane would end it quickly. Another, larger part of her hoped that Kai got away so that she could deal with him herself. Jane hated that she still had feelings for him, she despised herself for not caring about the Cerberus emblem emblazoned on his leathers. She still wanted him, still felt for him. There was something wrong with her.

Kai disappeared under his tactical cloak and her team, and Thane, searched for him in the room. When he reappeared it was with sword in hand and he charged Thane down. Her scaled friend ducked under the blade’s path, and summoned his biotics with a fist. Throwing Kai clean across the room, Thane retrieved his pistol from where he’d dropped it on the ground and cocked it before aiming at Kai. Shepard’s heart missed a beat.

The Cerberus agent kicked himself back onto his feet, swiping his sword back into his grasp. Keeping low to the ground he gave Thane a goading grin and charged the drell down. Not hesitating for even a second, Thane also ran at Kai, shooting at the other man and uncharacteristically missing every shot. Once he was close enough, Thane prepared a fist and launched himself at Kai.

The slushing sound of steel piercing flesh was all she could hear. Jane stared in wide eyed horror at the sight of Kai’s sword sticking through Thane’s midsection. The blade, coated red with her friend’s blood, protruded from Thane’s back like a spike before Kai pulled it back out and reclaimed his sword.

Kai looked at her then, the smile on his lips looked forced. He looked like he was trying to maintain his unphasable, cold appearance, as if him killing her friend was of no importance to him. With blade gone from his body and nothing to support his weight, Thane fell forward and Kai Leng made a break for it.

Jane shouted out a mortified, “Thane!” and shot at the fleeing Cerberus assassin. He’d stabbed her friend with a sword. The man she’d been pining over, dreaming about, fantasizing a future with just hacked into one of her closest friends as if it was nothing. Kai was a Cerberus operative, he was her enemy, and Jane had to kill him.

Swallowing back all the emotions that were rioting wildly inside of her. Jane had to get to Kai Leng. If Thane died because of him, he would have to answer to her. She shoved all thoughts to the back of her mind and gave chase. Kai Leng couldn’t get away.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Your feedback is more appreciated than you know!


End file.
